Alumni stories: Erzsi Bernath

2017 dance B.F.A. 

“Straight out of college I booked a contract with Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines dancing on the Freedom of the Seas (known for its heavily technical and endurance testing shows) for 7 months! Performing weekly and getting paid to travel and explore was a dream.

Afterward, I wanted to book a job that would allow me to train for long hours and keep pushing myself on the daily. That next season I was hired by Odyssey Dance Theater out in Salt Lake City, Utah for a short seasonal gig, but when it was wrapping up I was asked to stay and join as a full-time company member. I spent that year in the chorus/corps, and the following season I was made a soloist in several of our evening-length shows. ODT is legendary for its highly theatrical and athletic story-telling, entertaining the masses with classical and comedic productions.

My goal after that year was to start going for equity-building jobs in the hopes of moving to NYC eventually. Unfortunately with the pandemic, I’ve now been waiting out the storm- but I’ve been taking a class in Chicago and preparing for the next audition season. We performers are resilient and I know with time our field and industry will be back working safely and successfully again! I’ve also been teaching at preprofessional studios and modeling... but those are side gigs!”